The 60th Venice Biennale was an international

contemporary art Contemporary art is a term used to describe the art of today, generally referring to art produced from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a ...

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibiti ...

held between April and November 2024 with the theme ''

Foreigners Everywhere ''Foreigners Everywhere'', curated by Brazilian Adriano Pedrosa, was the main art exhibition of the 2024 Venice Biennale, 60th Venice Biennale, which took place from April 20–November 24, 2024. Pedrosa's stated intention for the exhibit was t ...

'' curated by

Adriano Pedrosa Adriano Pedrosa (born 1965) is a Brazilian curator. He is the artistic director of the São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP) and curated the 2024 Venice Biennale. Career From 2011 to 2014, Pedrosa was responsible for the artistic programs at SP-Art ...

as the artistic director. In addition, 88 countries contributed

national pavilions The national pavilions host each participant nation's official representation during the Venice Biennale, an international art biennial exhibition held in Venice, Italy. Some countries own pavilion buildings in the Giardini della Biennale while ...

Background

The Venice Biennale is an international

art biennial In the art world, a biennale ( , ; ), is a large-scale international contemporary art exhibition. The term was popularised by the Venice Biennale, which was first held in 1895, but the concept of such a large scale, and intentionally internationa ...

exhibition held in

Venice, Italy Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are linked by 438 bridge ...

. Often described as "the Olympics of the

art world The art world comprises everyone involved in producing, commissioning, presenting, preserving, promoting, chronicling, criticizing, buying and selling fine art. It is recognized that there are many art worlds, defined either by location or alt ...

", participation in the Biennale is a prestigious event for contemporary artists. The festival has become a constellation of shows: a central exhibition curated by that year's artistic director, national pavilions hosted by individual nations, and independent exhibitions throughout Venice. The Biennale parent organization also hosts regular festivals in other arts: architecture, dance, film, music, and theater. The 60th Biennale ran from April 20 to November 24, 2024.

Central exhibition

File:2024 Venice Biennale Kiosk with Foreigners Everywhere.jpg, Kiosk with "Foreigners Everywhere" signage for 60th Venice Biennale in 2024 File:2024 Venice Biennale Giardini Interior 1.jpg, Interior of the Giardini exhibition space at the 60th Venice Biennale in 2024 File:2024 Venice Biennale Arsenale Interior 2.jpg, Interior of the Arsenale exhibit space during the 60th Venice Biennale in 2024 File:2024 Venice Biennale Arsenale Interior 4.jpg, Interior of the Arsenale exhibit space during the 60th Venice Biennale in 2024 File:2024 Venice Biennale Arsenale Interior 7.jpg, Interior of the Arsenale exhibit space during the 60th Venice Biennale in 2024

, curator of the

São Paulo Museum of Art The São Paulo Museum of Art (, or ') is an art museum in São Paulo, Brazil. It is well known for the architectural significance of its headquarters, a 1968 concrete and glass structure designed by Lina Bo Bardi. It is considered a landmark of ...

, served as the 60th Venice Biennale's artistic director. The central exhibition, ''

'', is based on outsider and marginalized figures. Pedrosa was the Biennale's first Latin American curator.

National pavilions

Outside of the central, international exhibition, individual nations produce their own shows, known as pavilions, as their national representation. Nations that own their pavilion buildings, such as the 30 housed on the Giardini, are responsible for their own upkeep and construction costs as well. Nations without dedicated buildings create pavilions in the Venice Arsenale and palazzos throughout the city. Each country selects artists to show at their pavilion, ostensibly with an eye to the Biennale's theme. There were 88

at the 2024 Biennale, down from the high of 90 in 2019. Countries began to announce their national representatives soon after the previous exhibition closed in 2022. First-time presenters at the Biennale included Benin, Ethiopia, Morocco, Senegal, and Tanzania. The

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

had participated previously but 2024 marked the first

papal The pope is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the pope was the sovereign or head of sta ...

Biennale visit. Scotland withdrew from this year's biennale. Russia had been disinvited from the previous Biennale for its invasion of Ukraine and, with the war ongoing, did not participate in 2024 either. Russia loaned its pavilion to

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

. The Israeli pavilion declined to open. As the Biennale began, the pavilion's artist and curators announced that they would stay closed until there was a ceasefire in the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

and all Gaza hostages were returned. During the Biennale's preview week, protesting artists demanded the boycott of the Israeli pavilion with leaflets and a flashmob. Two months earlier, Biennale organizers had rebuffed calls to exclude Israel and Iran, including an open letter with thousands of signatures. Highlight pavilions from the exhibition included Japan, Egypt, the United Kingdom, Nigeria, Germany, Australia, the United States, Bulgaria, France, and Poland.

Awards

An international jury presented the three main prizes following the Biennale's opening ceremonies: * Golden Lion for best national participation:

Australian pavilion The Australian pavilion is a structure that houses Australia's national pavilion, national representation during the Venice Biennale arts and Venice Biennale of Architecture, architecture festivals. Although Australia has been represented at the ...

(

Archie Moore Archie Moore (born Archibald Lee Wright; December 13, 1913 – December 9, 1998) was an American professional Boxing, boxer and the longest reigning World Light Heavyweight Champion of all time (1952 – 1962). He had one of the longest profe ...

) ** Special mention: Kosovo pavilion (Doruntina Kastrati) * Golden Lion for best artist of the central exhibition: Mataaho Collective ** Special mention:

Samia Halaby Samia A. Halaby (born 1936) is a Palestinian-American visual artist, activist, educator, and scholar. Halaby is recognized as a pioneer of abstract painting and Computer art. Since beginning her artistic career in the late 1950s, she has exhibit ...

and La Chola Poblet * Silver Lion for the most promising young artist of the exhibition: Karimah Ashadu The 60th Biennale's Golden Lion for lifetime achievement went to Anna Maria Maiolino and

Nil Yalter Nil Yalter (born 1938) is a Turkish contemporary feminist artist. She attended Robert College in Istanbul, Turkey and currently lives and works in Paris. Her work, which is included in many collections and museums, includes not only drawings and ...

References

External links